Electrochemical Quantification of Neurotransmitters in Single Live Cell Vesicles Shows Exocytosis is Predominantly Partial

Exocytosis plays an essential role in the communication between cells in the nervous system. Understanding the regulation of neurotransmitter release during exocytosis and the amount of neurotransmitter content that is stored in vesicles is of importance, as it provides fundamental insights to understand how the brain works and how neurons elicit a certain behavior. In this minireview, we summarize recent progress in amperometric measurements for monitoring exocytosis in single cells and electrochemical cytometry measurements of vesicular neurotransmitter content in individual vesicles. Important steps have increased our understanding of the different mechanisms of exocytosis. Increasing evidence is firmly establishing that partial release is the primary mechanism of release in multiple cell types.     

Cell-Free Synthesis of Selenoproteins in High Yield and Purity for Selective Protein Tagging

The selenol group of selenocysteine is much more nucleophilic than the thiol group of cysteine. Selenocysteine residues in proteins thus offer reactive points for rapid post-translational modification. Herein, we show that selenoproteins can be expressed in high yield and purity by cell-free protein synthesis by global substitution of cysteine by selenocysteine. Complete alkylation of solvent-exposed selenocysteine residues was achieved in 10 minutes with 4-chloromethylene dipicolinic acid (4Cl-MDPA) under conditions that left cysteine residues unchanged even after overnight incubation. Gd^III−Gd^III distances measured by double electron–electron resonance (DEER) experiments of maltose binding protein (MBP) containing two selenocysteine residues tagged with 4Cl-MDPA-Gd^III were indistinguishable from Gd^III−Gd^III distances measured of MBP containing cysteine reacted with 4Br-MDPA tags.     

Characterization of a plasma polymer coating from an organophosphorus silane deposited at atmospheric pressure for fire-retardant purposes

Protective coatings from diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane (DEPETS) have been deposited on different polymer substrates in a plasma discharge operated at atmospheric pressure. Plasma polymer chemistry and structure were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A chemical structure of the plasma polymer has been proposed based on the coating molecular characterization. Coatings were deposited on polycarbonate (PC) and polyamide 6 (PA6) substrates. The flame retardant properties of coated substrate samples were assessed using cone calorimetry and compared to those of bare substrates. A significant increase in the time to ignition (TTI), up to +143%, was recorded after coating deposition due to the formation of a high-performance barrier layer at the surface of both polymer substrates.     

红外光谱法用于快速测定车用柴油酸度等性质的研究

针对车用柴油酸度等性质测定过程繁琐，采用衰减全反射样品池测定车用柴油的红外光谱，用偏最小二乘法（PLS）建立红外光谱测定车用柴油酸度、密度、闪点和凝点的4个校正模型，验证标准误差分别为0.46 mg/(100 mL),0.77kg/m3,2.60 ℃,2.77 ℃，该方法符合标准方法再现性要求。与标准方法相比，该方法具有无需预处理、操作简单、测量快速、重复性好等优点。     

BaTiO3基Au纳米颗粒复合薄膜的制备及其光学性质研究

采用溶胶-凝胶（sol-gel）方法，成功的将高体积面分比的Au纳米颗粒复合到BaTiO3的非晶薄膜中，并对其光学性质进行了研究。用XRD、TEM、椭偏仪、吸收光谱、光克尔效应OKE（Optical Kerr Effcet）方法对薄膜进行了表征和测试。从吸收光谱观察到表面等离子体共振SPR（Surface Plasma Resonance)峰随热处理温度升高而红移的现象。光学非线性测试表明薄膜具有高的三阶非线性极化率Χ^(3)和超快的响应时间。     

基于PC机群的大地电磁Occam反演并行计算研究

Occam反演以其稳定收敛和不依赖于初始模型的特性被广泛应用于大地电磁数据的处理，但偏导数矩阵的计算和拉格朗日乘子的求取导致大量的模型正演，使得反演速度较低。为此，研究了用基于PC机群的并行计算来解决这一问题的方法。首先对Occam反演方法进行了阐述；然后，分析了反演方法中各计算耗费的时间，提出对约占计算量90％的偏导数和拉格朗日乘子进行并行计算的思想，即偏导数计算采用频点计算一级的大粒度并行，拉格朗日乘子扫描和一维搜索分别采用弘值计算一级的大粒度并行和频点计算一级的小粒度并行；给出了并行计算的实现方法，即在PC机群上，利用主一从编程模式实现Occam反演的整体并行计算。在计算中，采用任务组合方式，减少了通信量，较好地实现了负载均衡。在4节点PC机群上，对应于拉格朗日乘子的扫描和一维搜索方式，整体加速比分别达到3．36和2．83。     

流量比对等离子体基团分布和薄膜结构的影响

使用光强标定的发射光谱(AOES)测量了CHF3／C6H6混合气体的微波电子回旋共振(ECR)放电等离子体中基团的分布状态。实验发现随着CHF3流量的增加，成膜基团CF、CF2、CH等的相对密度增大，而刻蚀基团F的密度也会增加，从而使得a—C：F薄膜的沉积速率降低。同时红外吸收谱(IR)分析表明，在高CHF3流量下沉积的a—C：F薄膜中含有更高的C—F键成分。可见在a—C：F薄膜的制备中CHF3／(CHF3 C6H6)流量比是重要的控制参量。     

Noise-Assisted Signal Reception in Threshold Neuron

1IntroductionSometi mes,noise can i mprove signal transmission orsignal processing in a nonlinear system.This phe-nomenonis the so-called Stochastic Resonance(SR)[1].Most studies of SRinvolve asubthresholdsignal througha single nonlinear systemand the non…